New to Blu: August 27-September 2

Gangsters abound on Blu-ray, with the past week witnessing the release of the Bonnie & Clyde reboot, season four of Boardwalk Empire and the complete Sopranos collection.

“Bonnie & Clyde’s rather glossy and ultra-clean digitally photographed 1080p transfer looks nice, but it also doesn’t feel right for the material.

“The throwback period picture lacks even a hint of grit or texture; the smoothness almost betrays the content’s heart and soul, but that’s modern moviemaking.”

“While the cinematography/direction of Bonnie & Clyde retains a very much ‘made-for-TV’ look to it, the actual video transfer here is really well-done.

“Shot in HD, the Blu-ray shows off some wonderful details (despite the cinematography being rather unimaginative, the production value is impressive) with lush colours that really provide the kind of ‘pop’ one likes to see in a high-def title.”

“HBO’s 1080p presentations of Boardwalk Empire have been nothing short of astounding, and the fourth season is no exception.

“It follows right in line with the superb video quality that has come before it.”

“The fourth season’s DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track also falls perfectly in step with those that have come before it.

“Dialogue is capably centered, intelligible and carefully prioritised, even when guns are drawn, engines roar or bodies begin to fall.”

“The extras include a strong collection of behind-the-scene resources and historical information providing context to the fiction.”

Also out is Boardwalk Empire – The Complete Seasons 1-4 while all six season of the drama series on which Boardwalk creator Terence Winter cut his teeth, The Sopranos, at last can be bought as Blu-ray box set.

Two other top dramas, The Blacklist and House of Cards, also should be added to your must-watch Blu-ray list.

“Like the series’ first season release, House of Cards: The Complete Second Season boasts a striking 1080p/AVC-encoded video presentation framed at 2.00:1.

“Each episode has been shot digitally using Red Epic cameras and the resulting image is pristine.”

“No complaints about it being demo material for sure … Using the Red camera technology, black levels are inky and consistent through the show, and while the colour palette is not broad compared to other productions, [it’s] reproduced accurately.”

“Technically, the show is amazing, and though the extras are not abundant they are robust.”

New from the multiplex are The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (“looks expectedly excellent“), Divergent (“pretty good with plenty of sharp detail”) and Transcendence (“passable 1080p/AVC MPEG-4 encode riddled with a variety of noticeable issues“) while going direct to disc are Siberian Education and Knights of Badassdom.